A stretch of Mendocino coastline filled with wildflower meadows, steep bluffs and river estuary will join a national preserve running the length of California's 1,100-mile Pacific edge. The result caps a drive that will safeguard the land, rejuvenate tourism and overcome Washington's snarled conservation policies.

The land near Point Arena was once planned for a nuclear power plant 40 years ago, a notion that went nowhere when locals put up a fight. Now, after tireless work by environmental groups, lawmakers, residents and business people, the nearly universally popular plan will buy out property owners and put the acres in federal hands.

Instead of no-trespass signs and barbed wire, visitors will have a chance to hike and enjoy new vistas near an historic lighthouse dating back over a century. Tourism, the only game in town after logging faded, will get a boost. Wildlife habitat in the trees, dunes and watery mix of the Garcia River and the Pacific will be protected.

By using the power of his office, President Obama added the land to the offshore California Coastal National Monument. It will be the first onshore part of this federal network along the state's coastline launched in 2000.

One of the last pieces to fall in place is a cattle ranch run by the Stornetta family of local dairy fame. After three generations of ownership, the descendants agreed to sell, as did other property owners in a string of deals facilitated by the Trust for Public Land and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

For visitors, there are sea lions, beavers and the endangered Behren's silverspot butterfly to spot. There are whales spouting offshore, and rainy months bring runs of steelhead and salmon in the Garcia.

A deal this size needed Washington's say-so, a step that happened after a roundabout journey. An acquisition bill sponsored by local Reps. Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson, both Democrats, sailed through the House but stalled in the Senate, despite support by both of California's Democratic senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.

Faced with this delay, Obama unlimbered his power to use the century-old Antiquities Act, which lets a president designate sensitive land for federal protection. His action follows recent pledges to bypass Congress, especially on conservation issues.

For California, the designation comes with few political repercussions. A struggling but beautiful swath of coastline will be preserved in perpetuity with next to no major objections.